Marbled Footed Bowl: The Finished Result

 My pottery piece is back from Color Me Mine! It's cool to see the finished product, but I have to admit...I thought it would magically look much more marbled!

 It teaches such respect for ceramicists because they can tell if they've done a good job glazing before their pieces are ever fired. I'm definitely just now learning that! The inside is a little streaky, and I really thought I had it just right when I finished! Lesson learned.

But, I do love its unique look and think it will be a great complement to my other pieces of pottery, which tend to be green and aqua. Now I just want to try again and again until I get it perfect!

Have you ever successfully glazed pottery? What's the trick to seeing the future and knowing you've got it just right? I'm guessing the trick is practice!

I Spy: Cool Vases, School Lockers and Serveware

Long time, no antiquing! On Saturday, I hit up my favorite Virginia Beach spot with my friend Melissa. Found some great pieces, but I'm trying to hold back these days, so let's just go virtual window shopping!

One of the first things I spotted was a pair of these lovely lotus flower cloisonne lamps. The lamp shades are too much, but I think it would be lovely with a plain black shade. It would be a great piece to pull a color scheme from. I didn't catch the price, but I don't think the pair was more than $45.

 I loved the pyramid pattern of the grain on this lovely midcentury chest...inside, it had perfect lateral shelves for an office. A glamorous office indeed!

 I was smitten with these enamel "sizzle" plates, which were about $14 each. I'm not sure what exactly a sizzle plate is, but I imagine it's perfect for fajitas.

 I also was coveting this super chic tortoiseshell glass pitcher and tumblers...the perfect addition to a bar and just $32.99 for the set!

 As you know, I'm always hunting for the perfect future man cave art. Not sure if anything could be better than a map of Alcatraz Prison!

 I also saw plenty of very cool and unique vases, including this $14 clay vase that looked possibly Mexican or even Indian?

 And this $15 gorgeous porcelain vase...another great inspiration for a color scheme!

These old sewing machine drawers would be the best office supply holders ever to give your desk some character. It was $45 for the pair.

 I think having authentic lockers in a mud room or playroom would be the coolest thing ever. This set worked perfectly and I think was around $300.

 I thought the pattern on this $8 vase was amazing...it reminded me of a lot of the famous patterns by David Hicks.

 Ceramic stools are incredibly versatile in the house or in the garden, and my friend was seriously debating taking this one home. It was a gorgeous example, with beautiful colors that would blend with any color scheme and handsome lion-shaped handles on the sides. It was a steal at $48!

I couldn't find a price anywhere on it, but this midcentury chair is a classic and the upholstery wasn't even bad! It was insanely comfortable. Maybe it's free? ;)

Sunday Best v. 199

Peggy Guggenheim and her most amazing sunglasses.

My best-of list this week is small...I have mostly spent my spare internet time looking at real estate online! But here are some small treats:

• The New York Public Library has an incredible dance video archive.
• NPR's clever April Fool's prank.
• Amazing backstories behind famous photos.
• I love Sam Smith's voice.
• What it's like to be a Hollywood assistant.
• Normcore fashion (I think my husband has mastered it!)

Today I Like ... Oh Joy for Target

One of the first blogs I ever read was Oh Joy...I've been reading since she got married, started her own design company, moved to San Diego, moved to L.A. and became a mom! So it's especially fun to see her newest endeavor, a party line at Target! Everything in the collection is cute, but I'm especially in love with these amazingly well made and roomy reusable bags that are $7 each! I bought two and I'm keeping one in each car so I can finally start taking reusable bags seriously. It helps if they're cute!

Gal Pal Day: Painted Pottery, Movies & Burgers

Yesterday, I had the sweetest friend date day with my bestest pal Ashleigh! It was a rainy, icky, blustery day and all of the antique stores were closed, so we spontaneously decided to go to Color Me Mine in Ghent and paint pottery! I've never done that before, believe it or not. I always thought it seemed kind of corny; somehow I got it into my head that everyone paints garden animals or piggy banks and I just had no interest in that. But I've recently seen some of my favorite illustrators creating beautiful painted pieces at similar paint-your-own pottery spots and was intrigued. It was so much fun, and now I'm inspired to do so much more!

The best part? They let you bring your own wine.

We opted to created a marbled effect, so with a little help from the instructor, we drizzled our glaze colors onto a bed of shaving cream, then used the end point of a brush to swirl the colors.

I then dipped each side of my bowl in the shaving cream swirly mess and rinsed the shaving cream off in the sink. Amazingly, the colors stuck once the shaving cream was gone!

Ashleigh decided to make a butter dish and guys, it is going to be Anthropologie-cute.

How gorgeous is that?!

Once you're done, they overglaze the pieces and fire them; they'll be ready for pick-up in 7-10 days. I can't wait to see how they turned out!

 After our pottery adventure, we went to the Naro (a great old movie theater that is legit my favorite thing in Hampton Roads) and saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. It was fun and kooky and beautifully art-directed, bur Rushmore will always be my favorite Wes Anderson movie.

For dinner, we opted to give 80/20 Burger Bar another shot. Both of us have had so-so experiences there in the past, but all of our friends insisted it's the best and we were wrong. I'm glad we did, because this time everything was perfect and delicious! The fried mozzarella is even revelatory (served with alfredo dipping sauce, too...mmmmmm).

We picked two different burgers and types of fries and then shared everything. I ordered the Steel City burger, with pepper jelly, grilled onions and meunster cheese, with a side of house fries smothered in parmesan, garlic and rosemary. Ashleigh got the Heritage, with thick-cut bacon, caramelized onions and gruyere cheese. The burgers ended up tasting quite similar, but I might give the Heritage the edge.

All in all, it was a perfect date...now I'm just dying to see our finished pottery!

Sunday Best v.198

Shew lord, I'm behind on blogging. Not only do I have a little weekend trip to Wilmington I haven't even mentioned, but I've been working my butt off. In the between times, I've been insanely addicted to beating this 2048 game. Oh man, it's been crazy. So with that in mind, here's a super-sized Sunday Best of the best links from the past two weeks:

• The handy guide for picking between Whole Foods and Trader Joes.
• Incredible views of famous locales from above.
• Bill Murray is a special, special guy.
• Eavesdropping on Mindy Kaling and Mike Schur.
• Why are Americans so overwhelmed? (tell me about it!)
• Want to feel very tiny in the universe? Click this link.
• The highest-rated movies on IMDB.
• An artist recreates the town of his youth.
• A week as the Dalai Lama's press secretary.
• How to get that J.Crew make-up glow.
• If you're in your 20's, stop worrying. (I really related to a lot of this)
• Who had richer parents: most doctors or most artists?
• The best long-running tv gags.
• The cutest power cords you ever did see.

Wine Club: Fondue Night

This week, I hosted a Wine Club game night with the Zin Zig wine trivial game. I wanted to make sophisticated game night food and to me, that screams fondue! And what's really better than dipping a bunch of random things in melty gooey goodness? Nothing, I tell you.

I served up three plates of items with dips. First, classic fondue with emmenthaler and gruyere cheeses. To dip, I had a selection of veggies, chicken bites seasoned with herbs de provence, baguette slices, apples and salami.

 For a dessert option, I had hot fudge (no time to make real chocolate fondue!) with banana slices, strawberries and madeleines.

 And I slaved away making Chef Mike Isabella's pepperoni sauce, with gnocchi, cheese and spinach ravioli and baguettes. It was all delicious if I do say so myself!

The game requires bringing bottles of wine to sample that will eventually be concealed, so we didn't have a theme per se, but every bottle was delicious!

• Little Penguin Pinot Noir: This was a spicy pinot with a little kick, but a great finish. Ashleigh said it's so cheap she couldn't figure out why we haven't been drinking it!
• Red Diamond Malbec: This was really truly a delicious Malbec...notes of pomegranate, but super smooth and drinkable. This bottle was finished first!
• Rosemount Estate Shiraz: A great cheap shiraz from Australia with hints of blueberries and oak.
• Belle Ambiance Red Blend: I couldn't find a site for this one, but let me tell you...I might not be the most sophisticated wine drinker, but I love a good blend and this was scrumptious. It was a little sweet, but had a strong hint of vanilla that I found I really enjoyed. Extremely easy drinking with this one!

Guiness Sliders for St. Pats

 Last night we hosted a Game Night and I knew I had to acknowledge St. Patty's Day in some way, but didn't feel like whipping up mini shepherd's pies or a big pot of stew or — shudder — corned beef and cabbage (which I don't even believe is actually Irish, but that's neither here nor there). I decided instead to make little burger sliders, basted in Guiness.

 It was pretty easy peasy. I brought a mixture of about half a bottle of Guiness, 1/2 cup of honey and 1/4 cup of light brown sugar to a boil and then simmered it until it seemed to reduce and thicken. I think it could have gotten even thicker, but it still did the trick. I made my customary burgers, with chopped onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little thyme, and then grilled them up.

Once the burgers (haha, they look like nuggets here) were done, I basted them with the Guinness concoction and topped them with Irish cheddar. It gave them a nice little somethin' somethin' and reminded me of my favorite meal I ate in all of Ireland: a grass-bed burger with Irish cheddar at Sammy's on the Beach in Inch. What can I say? I'm not always fancy!

Sunday Best v.197

Amazing patterned buildings in Burkina Faso.

Happy almost St. Patrick's Day! We hosted a game night tonight and had a short, but sweet visit from my sister-in-law over the weekend so I'm just now sitting down to share my favorite links. 

• Adults try to label the reproductive organs.
• Elisabeth Moss isn't Peggy Olson, but is pretty cool.
• Should we ban the word bossy?
• You've heard of the Whitney Biennial. But what about the Whitney Houston Biennial?
• An incredible story of how Disney helped a family connect with their autistic son.
• A man's death unites the women who loved him.
• Find it too hard to read Reddit AMAs? There's a website that makes them easy to read!
• Inside a woman's mind at Target.
• Style editors' favorite Fall 2014 looks.
• Behind the scenes of Beyonce's music videos.
• Colin Powell took an amazing selfie before any of us.
• Flashback! Museum websites from the 90s.
• Daredevil selfies at the top of the world.
• Reminder: Twitter is public.
• Celebrities do their best McConaughey impressions.

Jams of the Week

YouTube Jam: Billy On the Street

I had seen Billy On the Street clips before, but after seeing this trailer for his third season, I basically devoted a day to watching his entire YouTube channel. His manic, in-your-face, subjective style is hilarious and I love when he's obviously judging people to their face. Billy gets to act the way we all wish we could!

Morning Ritual Jam: Iced Chai

My love of chai tea, either hot or cold, is pretty well documented. Only recently did I pick up chai concentrate, which really truly delivers the exact same taste I can get at coffee shops for a fraction of the price AND I'm already imagining all the fun things I can do with it, like make ice cream. 

Music Jam: "Blue Moon" by Beck

I love how Beck disappears for a few years and always reemerges with a completely new vibe for the moment. Sometimes it's funky, Spanish-tinged pop; this time, it's mellow, AM radio-ready simplicity. It reminds me of The National, and of course his earlier work on "Sea Change." I'm digging it.

Cocktail Jam: Pimm's Cup

You know how you have those foods or drinks you've always meant to try, but it's never quite happened? For me, that's the Pimm's Cup. It's a classic British cocktail of summertime, always popping up in British entertainment and novels, but for some reason I rarely see it on menus. I've often paused by the bottles in the alcohol store and considered just buying it, but wanted to know if I even liked it first. I finally spotted it on the menu at Venture last week and the verdict is in: DELICIOUS. Its taste is hard to describe, falling somewhere between hints of molasses and sweet tea. The cucumber garnish is also superb.